Clerk fights robber with garden hoe (VIDEO)

It was like any other night at the 72nd Street Deli and market in Tacoma, Washington.

That is, until police say a guy robbed the store wielding a large knife.

Detectives say the suspect was so brazen he came back two days later.

Same guy, same large knife, but this time he stole the entire cash register.

"Definitely if you see something like that you want to stop them," said shopper Chris Webb.

Police say that is exactly what the cashier tried to do.

Surveillance video clearly shows the clerk grabbing a gardening hoe and going after the robber even hitting him on the head.

But that didn't keep the thief from bolting out the door cash register in hand!

"It's a dangerous thing to happen in your neighborhood I mean we leave down the street," said Webb.

Shoppers we spoke with are worried about safety in the area..

"It's a market that people go in and out of quite frequently. Even at that time at night it's a pretty busy area. In this instance it was just the clerk that had the confrontation with him. But, had there been a customer in the store, you don't know, he might have hurt them also," said Loretta Cool with the Tacoma Police Department.

Employees inside the store didn't want to be interviewed, but say the situation was so scary one of the cashiers quit.

Detectives are still searching for the suspect at this time.

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